Jurors To Parents: Teach Kids Morals

Members Of The Grand Jury Were Upset By 30 ''senseless'' Killings They Had Investigated.

March 23, 1996|By Debbie Salamone of The Sentinel Staff

Dismayed by the growing violence in Orange County, grand jurors on Friday encouraged parents to be the ''moral compass'' for their children.

The jurors, shocked by some 30 ''senseless'' slayings they have investigated during the past six months, issued a two-page letter to the community as a wake-up call.

It is an unusual move for a grand jury, but members said they wanted to draw attention to the violent fallout from the drug trade, the growing violence and insensitivity among young people, and the failure of parents to teach their children ''basic human values.''

''We want you to learn from what we have seen,'' jury vice foreman John Geraci read to television cameras.

''Parents must not only effectively discipline their own children, but it is essential that they once again become the moral compass and provider of human values. Parents should not relinquish their responsibility of child-rearing to anyone, especially not to the street, where their children's souls will be absorbed.''

In their final meeting, this set of jurors indicted:

Eugene Hall, 20, of Orlando in the Jan. 8 retaliation killing of a neighborhood bully who went on a rampage accusing neighbors of stealing some of his pit bull puppies. Investigators said Tyrone Thomas, 30, was firing his gun into the air and robbing neighbors before he was shot outside his West Livingston Street home.

Andre Renard Walker, 23, of Winter Garden in the March 1 shooting of his girlfriend, Karen Denise Burns, 25, in her Oakland home. Burns was shot in the head after an argument with Walker.

Richard Midkiff, 19, and Patrick Swett, 17, both of Orange County, in the Jan. 24 shooting of Earl Walter, 39, at his west Orange County home. Investigators said the killing stemmed from a drug sale dispute.

Rolando Berberena, 34, in the stabbing death of Francisco Rodriguez, whose body was found Jan. 7 in his Orange County apartment. Berberena is a former security guard at the complex, and investigators think robbery was the motive.

All five men are charged with first-degree murder.

Jurors also indicted Latavious Shepherd, 13, on attempted first-degree murder and other charges in a March 6 attack on Thaddeus Green, 28, in south Orange County. Prosecutors said Shepherd chased and shot at Green because he thought Green had his necklace and gun.

All those indicted were ordered held in the Orange County Jail without bail.